...I had to learn new skills. One was to no longer pretend not to see what was going on. ... I was going to learn to trust that what I saw was really happening. ... I had to learn to be present without paying quite so much attention to my poor old overamped mind, because this was the source of most of my unhappiness. ... The second radical choice I made was to notice and then express the fact that I was filled with rage and grief.
In her book "Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair," author Anne Lamott reflects on her journey of personal growth. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging reality rather than ignoring it. Learning to trust her perceptions was a crucial step in her healing process. By becoming more present and less consumed by her anxious thoughts, she discovered that many of her mental struggles stemmed from this overactive mind.
Additionally, Lamott made a conscious choice to confront her emotions, particularly feelings of rage and grief. By recognizing and expressing these intense feelings, she took a significant step towards understanding her unhappiness and finding a path towards emotional recovery. Her insight underscores the necessity of facing one's true emotions and the value of self-awareness in the healing process.
